Process of manufacturing decolorizing-carbon.



UNITED STATES PATENT onrIoE.

FREDERICK w. ZERBAN, or mew OBLEAN, noorsrnrrn, nssre won, BY MESNEASSIGNMENTS, T0 rnornn rnnnnorb eovnanmnnr or run pnrtpnp s'rnrns AND TOTHE P RQGESS 0F MANUFAGTURING DEC OLOBIZI NG-CABBON.

1, 9 003- No Drawing.

To allwhom it mayeoncem:

Be it known that I, FRED RI K W'- cleaner, 3, subject of the Emperor ofGermany, ng at New Orleans, in the State of Louisiana, (whose.POStfOfll-ZG addrem is Louisiana Sugar Experiment Station, New Orleans,Louisiana,) have invented a new and use.- ful Process of ManufacturingDecolorizing- Carbon. 1 This application is made under act of March .3,1883, chapter 143 .(22 Stat. 625), and the invention herein describedand claimed, may be used by the Government of i the United States, orany of its oflicers or employees, in the prosecution of work for theGovernment, or .by any person in the United States, without paymentto meof any royalty thereon.

he object of my invention is to provide a process for the production ofa carbon from elp, which is highly efficient as an age t for thedecolorization of sugar and fruit juices.

The best known carbons employed in depolarizing sugar juices, are noriteand bone black. Norite, which is a foreign product, is not generally, ifat all, used in this country, due to the non-availability of thatmaterlal, which is more or less attributable to the present lack offacilities for the transportation of articles of import and the greatlyincreased freight rates'incident -.t0'iII 1p 1't tion. Bone black is acarbon whichls commonly used in this country for decolonzlngsugarjuices. Bothnorite and bone black are xpensive, and sugarmanufacturers are; and for a longtime have been, interested 1n thedevelopment of a carbon which would. be not onlycheap, but moreefliclentthan e ther norite or bone black. I

From experiments and investigations which I have conducted, I have,dlscovered that a carbon may be prepared from kelp, which is much moreefficient in decolor zmg sugar juices than either norite or bone black.Inasmuch as kelp is a sea product, growing abundantly along the Ifacificcoast, and is not harvest d or use in any industry to (nnmcarnn r0 mrustle.

ployed slightly in the production of potash. it is in 'efiect a wasteproduct, and, as a result, a carbon, can be prepared from that materialwhich may be marketed at a. low price.

In addition, I have discovered that a carbon may be prepared from kelpsimultaneously with the use of that material in the preparationofvpotash. In other words, kelp may be employed in the manufacture ofpotash and at the same time maybe used in the preparation of thedecolorizing car- Carbon prepared from kelp and which is at the sametime treated for the removal of the potash salts present therein, isjust as eflic'ient as a decolorizing agent as where the carbon isprepared from kelp according to my process without the extraction of thepotash salts.

In practising my invention, I take kelp' closed iron receptacle andheated, preferably for two hours, ,to a, bright red heat. It is thencooled. At this stage, the carbon or charred material contains largequantities of ashconstituents which are partly soluble and' artlyinsoluble in Water, 'but entirely solub ein dilute ,acids,,s.uch asdilute hydrochloric acid, and which have helped or served to get thecarbon into a state of fine subdivision. In order to develop thedecolorizin power-of the material, it is essential that t e ashconstituents consisting largely pecifi ti n o ett rs Patent PatentedDec. 31, 1918. Application filed August 80, 191 8. Serial No. 252,11l3.I

of Water soluble Salts, as the chlorids and sulfates of potassium andsodium, etc., and of the ,QXldfi or carbonates and other salts (phospates, et c.,) of calcium, magnesium,

iron, a 111111111 1 and the like, which are inseluhlei n wa ch-he removd iThis a on is accomplished by treat'm "the carbon with a suitablesolvent. I do t 's, followingthe cooling operation by boiling the charor carbon with a suita 1e acid, preferably dilute hydrochloric acid. Theamount and strength of the acid used should be suflicient to dissolveboth the water and. acid soluble substances contained in the carbon andto impart to the solution a distinctly acid reaction.

I then Wash the carbon with water for effecting the complete removaltherefrom of the substances dissolved by thedilute-hydrochloric acid.Washing the carbon with water will also remove any excess of acid in theThe carbon may then be dried,

material. but in either the'moist or dryistate it is now ready for useas a decolorizing agent.

' In actual tests I find that carbon prepared from kelp according to theprocess specified produces, by its use on molasses and sugar solutions,a liquor containing only about one-third as much residual coloringmatter as one obtained by employing equal quanti ties of norite, whichis generally regarded as being the most effcient decolorizing agent usedin the sugar industry.

Potash and decolorizing carbon may be made from kelp in one continuousoperation. This result may be obtained by, drying the kelp, thenheating-the dried .material in a ering. the potash salts present insuch-ma-.

terial. The carbon obtainedbylfollowing' the steps in either processwill be the same, and W1 llb8]l1$t as eflicient asa decolorizing agent.

In order,however,;to employ the residue of kelp, herein referredto," formaking a highly eflicient decolorizing carbon, it is necessary thatdried kelp or kelp char should first be heated to a red heat beforeextracting with'w'ater to remove the potash therefrom,'or with acid toremovethe potash andother ash constituents I may add that in. themanufacture of potash from kelp it is entirely advisable'and practicableto heat help to a red heat 'prior to recovering the potash salts present'therein.- The heating of the kelp tored heat is pointed out not for thepurpose of limiting or confining the scope of my process or invention orwith acid to remove the potash salts and other ash constituents, but asindicating an essential step to be practised or followed in cases wherethe production of the most efficient carbon is desired. A carbon can, ofcourse, be prepared from the kelp residue referred to, without furthertreating the dried kelp to a red heat before extracting with water toremove the potash, or with acid to remove the potash and other ashconstituents, but a carbon prepared in this way will not, as stated, heas high in decolorizing power as when prepared from the residue of kelpwhere the kelp is first heated to a red heat before leaching the kelpchar with water to remove the potash salts, or with acid to remove thepotash salts and other ash constituents.

Furthermore, I do not limit or confineth scope of my invention to thespecific steps hereinbefore set forth in the treatment of kelp for theproduction of a decolorizmg ca rbon. Various changes and modifications.

of-my process may be made or resorted to without departing from orsacrificing thev spirit or scope of my invention. The particular processhereinbefore described is what- 1 regardand consider, as the result ofmuchexperimentation, as the most pref erableprocessto be followed inproducmg the mostefiicient decolorizing carbon from kelp. Kelp may becarbonized in any suitable receptacle and a char thus produced may,without previous heating in a closed receptacle, be treated with anacid, such as hydrochloric or other suitable acid, or even with wateralone, dried.

- In either case a decolorizing carbon will be obtained, but a carbonobtained in either of these ways will not be as efiicient as adecolorizing agent as one prepared according to the specific steps ofthe process which I have hereinbefore described.

In practice, I have found that the best resultslin producingdecolorizing carbon from kelp may be obtained when the raw material iscarbonized-quickly at a comparatirely high temperature and in such awaythat the fumes can freely escape during the period of" carbonization.carbonizationalone 15 not suflicient, however, to make a' highly:efiicient decolorizing carbon. The kelp material, afterf carbonization,should be treated to the highest temperature, full- -washed, and ifdesired, p

redheat, and the resulting carbon cooled...

Having thus described my invention, I treating the residue with an acidand then 10 claim: wash1ng 1t with water, substantially as speci- Aprocess of manufacturing de'colorizing fied.

' carbon from kelp, consisting in drying kelp In testimony, I aflix mysignature in the and carbonizing said material, heating to presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

a high temperature the carbon "produced, FREDERICK W. ZERBAN. thencooling said material, washing the re- Witnesses: 'sultant char withwater for effecting the HARRY B. CAPLAN,

remoyal of the potash salts present therein, W. E. BAGGA'IT.

